Emergence of cosmic space and its connection with thermodynamic principles

Abstract

The recent research on the connection between gravity and thermodynamics suggests that gravity could be an emergent phenomenon. Following this, Padmanabhan proposed a novel idea that the expansion of the universe can be interpreted as equivalent to the emergence of space with the progress of cosmic time. In this approach, the expansion of the universe is described by what is known as the law of emergence, which states that the expansion of the universe is driven by the difference between the number of bulk and surface degrees of freedom in a region bounded by the Hubble radius. This principle correctly reproduces the standard evolution of a Friedmann universe. We establish the connection of the law of emergence, which is conceptually different from the conventional paradigm to describe cosmology, with other well-established results in thermodynamics. It has been shown that the law of emergence can be derived from the unified first law of thermodynamics, which can then be considered as the backbone of the law. However, the law of emergence is rich in structure than implied by the First law thermodynamics alone. It further explains the evolution of the universe towards a state of maximum horizon entropy. Following this, it can be considered that the first law of thermodynamics, along with the additional constraints imposed by the maximisation of the horizon entropy, can together lead to the law of emergence. In the present article, we first make a brief review of Padmanabhan's proposal and then studies its connection with the thermodynamics of the horizon in the context of Einstein's, Gauss-Bonnet, and more general Lovelock gravity theories.